The present invention relates generally to fluid dispensing devices having an internal valve return spring, and more specifically to a beverage dispensing apparatus of the type in which several different beverages are dispensed from a single beverage dispensing head by pressing an appropriate button. In particular, the present invention is related to improvements in the manner of retention of the valve return springs in such a beverage dispensing apparatus.
Hand-held beverage dispensers that provide an operator with the ability to dispense any of a number of different beverages by merely pressing an appropriate button are known. Such hand-held dispensers are sometimes referred to as bar guns. One such bar gun system is described in the assignee's issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,449, entitled: “Beverage Dispensing Apparatus,” the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Known beverage-dispensing devices 12, 14 available from the assignee of the present invention are shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. As shown in these figures, the current state of the art utilizes a disc-shaped part (PH10-25 spring hat) to place a valve return spring (PH10-24) under compression so that the valve return spring acts to maintain a dispensing valve in the “closed” position until otherwise acted upon. FIG. 3 shows a simplified version of the beverage-dispensing devices of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and further illustrates how the spring hat (PH10-25) is used to place the valve return spring (PH10-24) under compression. A plurality of these spring hats (PH10-25) are used in a typical assembly and held in position by a covering plate (PH12-27; PH14-27) that is secured by one or more screws (PH10-7). During servicing, the covering plate is removed. Because the valve return springs have significant compressive force, the spring hats (PH10-25) can become dislodged from their positions and be ejected from the immediate assembly for some distance.
The known arrangement, described above, relies solely on the resistance provided by a sealing o-ring (PH10-26) to act against the force of the compressed spring. As one can imagine, when the covering plate (PH12-27, PH14-27) is removed, the compressive force in the valve return spring often causes the corresponding retained parts to be ejected from the handle assembly in an uncontrolled fashion.